AP opens news bureau in North Korea

Raw footage from the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA): The Associated Press opens its latest full news bureau in Pyongyang located inside the KCNA headquarters.From AP’s own report on the opening:

The bureau puts AP in a position to document the people, places and politics of North Korea across all media platforms at a critical moment in its history, with Kim’s death and the ascension of his young son as the country’s new leader, [AP President and CEO Tom Curley] said in remarks prepared for the opening.“Beyond this door lies a path to vastly larger understanding and cultural enrichment for millions around the world,” Curley said. “Regardless of whether you were born in Pyongyang or Pennsylvania, you are aware of the bridge being created today.”Curley said the Pyongyang bureau will operate under the same standards and practices as AP bureaus worldwide.“Everyone at The Associated Press takes his or her responsibilities of a free and fair press with utmost seriousness,” he said. “We pledge to do our best to reflect accurately the people of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea as well as what they do and say.”“The world knows very little about the DPRK, and this gives us a unique opportunity to bring the world news that it doesn’t now have,” Curley said.KCNA President Kim Pyong Ho called the occasion “a significant meeting.”“I believe that the reason we are able to conduct all these projects in less than a year is that President and CEO Thomas Curley and the other members of the AP have promised to report on the DPRK with fairness, balance and accuracy, and have tried to follow through in collaboration with KCNA,” he said in remarks prepared to mark the occasion.“Even though our two countries do not have normalized relations, we have been able to find a way to understand one another and to cooperate closely enough to open an AP bureau here in Pyongyang as we have today,” Kim said.